Hot reads: Bears' season keeps spiraling out of control
Ten snap reactions from the 10th Sunday of the NFL season:
— Who will pay the price for the Bears' latest embarrassment? It could be defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, whose unit has played a primary role — with an assist from QB Jay Cutler, among others — in allowing 106 points over the past two weeks. But that might just be window dressing on the mess that manifested itself again in Sunday night's nationally televised 55-14 rout at the hands of the Packers. Cutler has fallen back into old habits. The loaded offense that seemed poised to thrive under Marc Trestman's direction has been outscored 94-7 in the first halves of three straight losses. Tucker's defense looked flat-out lost at times as Packers QB Aaron Rodgers passed for six TDs by halftime. This was the point in the season where things were supposed to break in favor of the Bears, who have five of their last seven games at home. Instead, they look broken. They still haven't won at Soldier Field, and even the winless Raiders — 41-17 losers to the Broncos — have been more competitive of late. The Bears fully believed they were a playoff contender entering the season. A lot of people may pay the price if things don't change in a hurry.
— The Cardinals won two games with backup QB Drew Stanton under center earlier this season. Coach Bruce Arians told USA TODAY Sports last month Stanton can handle more volume of offense than any other quarterback on the roster, including starting QB Carson Palmer, who suffered a significant knee injury in Sunday's 31-14 win over the Rams. But it's different to play with Stanton (or any other backup QB) for a couple weeks than to play with him for the remainder of the season. At age 34, Palmer was playing perhaps the best football of his 12-year career, earning the three-year, $50 million contract extension the Cardinals gave him last week. Now he's replaced by a player who started four games total over his first six NFL seasons. If any team is equipped to handle such a loss, it's the Cardinals, who have been doing it on defense all season. They have a lot of weapons around the QB, and Arians is a genius with offense. But make no mistake: This is a blow as the Cardinals enter a tough stretch on the schedule, with the Lions in town next week and the first of two against the Seahawks the following week in Seattle.
— How's this for a statement on the unpredictability of this NFL season? With seven weeks to go, the Browns and Lions are in first place at the same time. Cleveland hasn't won a playoff game since the 1994 season, before the original franchise left for Baltimore. But the woeful Jets' 20-13 stunner against the Steelers pushed Cleveland — upset winners of its third straight in a rout Thursday at Cincinnati — into the top spot in the AFC North. Detroit last won a playoff game after the 1991 season, when Barry Sanders was in his third year. But the Packers' runaway had no bearing on the NFC North lead because the Lions rallied for their fourth straight win, beating the Dolphins on RB Theo Riddick's 11-yard TD catch with 29 seconds to go. (They're the first team in 20 years to score the winning points in the final two minutes of regulation in three straight games.) Both teams have first-year head coaches. Both entered the season with relatively nonexistent expectations outside the building. And both have a lot of work still ahead to show they're not just setting up for another disappointment. For now, it's good to (finally) be on top.
— Don't let Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' confidence in QB Tony Romo's ability to play overshadow what Romo did Sunday. He not only played, but played effectively (20-of-27 passing for 246 yards and three TDs) in a 31-17 win over the Jaguars in London less than two weeks after suffering two fractures in his back. He took a pill to manage the pain and plainly had some discomfort, particularly after taking a big hit from DE Ryan Davis on the last play of the third quarter. Should Romo even have been in the game at that point, with a 24-point lead over an offensively challenged Jags team that hasn't scored 25 in a game all season? Probably not. But he was there for the Cowboys at a time they couldn't afford a third straight loss and helped them keep pace atop the NFC East with the Eagles, who host the Panthers on Monday.
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— Not enough has been said about the job Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his staff are doing to keep that team on track after an 0-2 start. The Chiefs have won six out of seven since, including on the road at Miami, San Diego and Buffalo — three teams in the race for the AFC wild cards. Sunday, they rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to beat the Bills, sparked by a counter-toss on fourth-and-1 that RB Jamaal Charles took for an untouched 39-yard touchdown. Besides Charles and rising TE Travis Kelce, the Chiefs lack difference-makers on offense, but their play-calling coach is one. Reid is in his 16th year as a head coach, and though the remaining schedule looks tough — save for two meetings with the still-winless Raiders — this Chiefs team has a shot to be the 10th to finish with at least 10 wins. That'd be no small feat.
— Your weekly indictment of the NFC South: The 3-6 Falcons are back within one game of the division lead after Sunday's 27-17 win at Tampa Bay, coupled with the Saints' 27-24 OT loss to the 49ers. Yes, the Falcons had lost five in a row and pumped up the volume on talk about coach Mike Smith's job by blowing a 21-point halftime lead to the Lions before last week's bye. They're now 3-0 within the division, including a win over the Saints in the opener. They have some pieces on offense. Upset the Panthers next week in Charlotte, and it might be time to at least consider the possibility seriously the Falcons could be a factor in the NFL's lousiest division.
— By trading WR Percy Harvin, the Seahawks made a conscious decision to get back to winning games the way they did last season — and sometimes that means winning ugly. They slugged it out with the Giants on Sunday, trailing 17-14 at halftime before running away (quite literally) for a 38-17 win with 350 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. As predicted, the champs are now 6-3 after sweeping their three-game "transition" stretch against the Panthers, Raiders and Giants. Now they get to find out if the approach is sustainable, with their next six against teams with winning records, starting next week at Kansas City. All four games against the Cardinals and 49ers remain as well.
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— What would the Jets' season have been like if they'd started QB Michael Vick from go? Well, Vick probably would've gotten hurt. And he got away with a couple brutal plays in Sunday's win that on another day would've been turnovers. But his modest stat line — 10-of-18 passing for 132 yards and two touchdowns, plus 39 yards on eight carries — was the type of efficiency that might have put the Jets in the playoffs a year ago. In two starts the past two weeks, Vick has no turnovers. QB Geno Smith has just one two-game streak without a turnover in his young career, and the Jets won those games — the last two of the 2013 season that ended at 8-8 and saved coach Rex Ryan's job. It'd take a seven-game win streak to reach .500 this year, and with all their issues, the Jets aren't pulling that off. But at least so far Vick hasn't single-handedly thrown them out of a game yet. Sad to say, that alone constitutes progress.
— Could Ravens RB Justin Forsett be the most underappreciated skill player in the NFL right now? His big performance in Sunday's 21-7 win over the Titans — 20 rushes for 112 yards and two touchdowns — upped his average to 5.4 yards a carry this season. That's easily the best for any lead back in the NFL. His career-high 721 yards through 10 games rank fourth in the league behind Dallas' DeMarco Murray (1,233), Houston's Arian Foster (822) and Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell (747). Perhaps most striking, Forsett averages 5.0 yards a carry for his career, which would be good for top-10 all-time if he had enough attempts. This from a player who's on his fourth team in four years and got all of six carries in 2013 with the Jaguars.
— It's easy to forget all the issues the 49ers have worked through during their turmoil-laced 5-4 start. But no team — save perhaps the Browns with WR Josh Gordon — has been awaiting a more impactful in-season addition than 49ers OLB Aldon Smith, who is set to return from suspension Monday. This isn't just an upgrade for the pass rush. This is the addition of a matchup threat like few others in the NFL, the kind opposing coordinators have to account for on every snap. If Smith is in the physical and mental shape his teammates say, watch out. He can make everyone else along that talented (and banged-up) 49ers defensive front better.
Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.
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